2.5 - Smart Radio Control System (for Flight Test Centers)
- Event
- etc2014 - 34. European Telemetry and Test Conference
2014-06-03 - 2014-06-05
Nürnberg - Chapter
- 2. Data Links
- Author(s)
- J. Alvarez - Airbus Defence and Space, Flight Test, Getafe (Spain)
- Pages
- 39 - 44
- DOI
- 10.5162/etc2014/2.5
- ISBN
- 978-3-9813484-7-7
- Price
- free
Abstract
Among the rich infrastructure of a Telemetry/Ground Station Center dwells the subset dedicated to radio communications.
Radios are mainly used to communicate with the aircraft under test in order to give guidance and feedback from ground specialists. Sometimes, however, radios themselves become the subject of the test, requiring a full set of them with all their features and capabilities (Military Modes, HF ALE, SELCAL, etc).
Remote control (and audio routing) of these radios is a critical as infrastructures scale over tens of radios, distributed amid different test centers separated by hundreds of kilometers. Addition of a remote touch user interface, MIL COMSEC and TRANSEC modes, automatic audio routing, together with a maintenance free requirement, makes the whole issue far more difficult to manage.
Airbus Military has developed a Smart Radio Control System allowing to profit from those advantages and more benefits:
• Intuitive Touch UI
• Automatic Audio Routing
• Distributed infrastructure (network based)
• Autonomous and service free (no one, other than FTC needed to operate it)
• Heterogeneous (any radio can be controlled by creating a plug & play library)
• Special Modes support (COMSEC, TRANSEC, HF ALE, and SELCAL)
Future additions will include, amongst others, VoIP integration and tablet use.